Here is a series of images taken on 4/20/18, from Trout Lake to White Salmon, WA. These are phone shots. I hope you enjoy, and I hope you find yourself grateful today for this wonderful planet we all share. Thank you for your visits, feel free to share my posts!

No matter what you do in life, no matter what traumas or Joys happen around you, you can always look around you in this beautiful world and find good things to warm your heart. Feeling very peaceful and content today, and here are some of the reasons why.

I’m sure you figured out by now that I’m fascinated by clouds, and how they change so quickly sometimes. These clouds in Glenwood yesterday had their own unique metamorphosis during the evening hours. I will be posting another series as well in a separate post.

Mount Adams glowed with a lovely pre-sunrise pink and blue deliciousness that pulled me out of bed after only 3 hours of sleep, to stumble outside with camera in hand. By the time the sunrise kissed the mountain top, the pink had gotten brilliant. I was staying in Glenwood, Washington, where I have a wonderful view of Mount Adams from my friends house.

These are only iPhone pics, but I really wanted to share now! The color is not quite as brilliant as my eyes were seeing. This is an unusual event; typically the lenticular clouds more often are seen far ro the right of the mountain from this location. Last night between 8:15 and 8:38 pm we had roaring sudden gusts of 40 mph winds, which dropped to 30 mph gusts for the next hour. Base winds ranged roughly from 8-15 mph, fluctuating BETWEEN GUSTS from the SW to SE, and back to SSW. Temps at that time were 44 deg. F. This morning it was below freezing and I ran out without my gloves 😂💕 Oops

Driving up Highway 141 recently, just before the snow made angels out of burned trees from the Dry Creek Fire, I rolled down my window to soak in the mountain valley air. The smell of this Summers wildfire mingles with the rich fungal odor of fall. Surely the Morel mushrooms must be happy, I thought with a wry grin. (More writing and photos below)

Rivers of fog draped across the mountain sides like an undulating snake, or a scarf tossed carelessly over a shoulder. Perhaps now that the Drycreek drainage is showing off the new shape that was hidden under the tall evergreens, she’s heading out to a winter party to show off.

Sighing deeply at the loss of the luxuriant evergreen giants, The smile returns as I contemplate the new growth already manifesting on the hillside. Elk, Bear, and Deer will love this change that will bring in more low growing forage of leaf and berries. I recall the bear from a couple summers ago that was feasting on wild blackberries or currents out in the older clear-cut that has been growing back. Change is part of a forest, both natural and manmade, and often brings about a healthier ecosystem. Not always, of course, at least not in the short term. However looking at the long-term picture of which we are just a very small part, the world has been changing throughout its history and we live such a short amount of time we tend to think it’s always been this way. Have we affected these changes? Certainly we have, and not always for the best, but change will still happen without us at its own pace. We just seem to rush it along.

Meanwhile near Glenwood lovely fall leaves of Vine Maple, Dogwood, Elderberry, and Cottonwood reflected beautifully in a small stream.

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

Back in mid October, Outlet Falls was starting to increase the water flow. I am sure by now there is a great deal more water.

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

I finally spotted my first elk herd of the season on Conboy National Wildlife Refuge recently… was not able to get good quality pics but sharing anyway. The real treat was watching them come out of the field, up and over a fence and across the road, flowing like a river of brown. They are so big, yet so graceful.

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

Here we have a series of Mount Adams from Glenwood, taken about 2 weeks apart.
This first one is October 1, 2017.

Next is sunrise October 14. Notice the snow around and below treeline? That whole area is a burn scar, hit first by the Cold Springs fire in 2008 and more recently hit hard by the Cougar Creek Fire in 2015. A bit further west, the burn scar continues its way along the south and west sides of the mountain from the Cascade Creek Fire of 2012. There have been other fires before those 3 as well, and the Huckleberry bushes love coming back in burns. Wildflower meadows thrive as well, and the Elk and Deer have more grazing areas.

Sunrise on Halloween Day

Later on Halloween Day, with a short lived lenticular cloud cap

and rainbow from November 1, 2017.

I would love to hear from you.. which were your favorite photos, perhaps, or what fall means to you!

Recently I was treated to an amazing sunset over the Columbia River Gorge in White Salmon, Washington. I drove to the top of a hill, met some new friends, and fell in love all over again with clouds and wind in my hair on a hill top as day deepened into twilight. Do you know that feeling? If not, find yourself out there somewhere, by a river, on a hilltop, in a desert. Watch past the sunset, watch for the fading light, the appearance of first planets and stars… and just breathe it all in with Gratitude.

For anyone who misses my more regular posts, I have no internet at home and it has been challenging to get somewhere with everything to post, when I do pop on internet, I have so many things to catch up on I get very little done!

Anyone want to help with that? I have a Tip Jar, a donate button on my wordpress website here, on the right sidebar down aways. Working my way back into the world again slowly, it has been a slow process this year, and have not been able to really work much lately. Things are looking up however! I will be an intern this summer at the museum in Bingen on weekends… you should pop in there and check out the displays, make a small donation to the museum, or even become a member for $20 a year for individuals!

While the majority of my aurora shots have been from Trout Lake side of Mount Adams, I found this series of shots in my archives that had been forgotten, from Glenwood, WA. June 1, 2013 Mount Adams still features strongly. The first two shots were of something I have not experienced any other time; and […]

My photography

Tip Jar Donations

If you enjoy the work I share, consider helping with a tank of gas or other expenses, so that I may continue sharing my bit of paradise with you. My old truck is not going to last much longer! I started with nothing, and no money to do promotion, but you have all helped me in one way or another get to this point and I thank you all. My current primary job is part time caregiving of sister. Contact me at starlisa.black@gmail.com about availability and purchase of different images you see,and like. Consider dropping something in to my Tip Jar so that I can keep sharing photos, Let me know if I can thank you publicly with a post., or include an email or PO address so I can thank you that way.